Commenting on the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) reducing physical and outdoor training with the PSI exceeding 100, Lee posted on Facebook: “REALLY!? Shouldn’t the SAF, of all people, train in all weather conditions and be at least haze-ready?”

I do recall training for chemical warfare in a gas mask during my national service. Does that make me “haze-ready”?

Can the haze be considered a chemical weapon? I know a few Singaporeans who want to declare war on Indonesia as retaliation.

But wait. Lee wasn’t done dissing SAF.

Replying to another Facebook comment, she wrote: “They way i see it, I reckon I trained harder in 4-hour ballet classes than some of these NSFs do! lol!”

Ouch. Comparing full-time national servicemen to girls practising pirouettes in tutus – that must sting more than the haze in my eyes.

Lee was understandably flamed for her Ah Boys To Ballerinas comparison. As one detractor pithily observed: “Girls talking about NS is like guys talking about giving birth.”

In her defence, I would like to point out that Lee did include an “lol” in her comment.

Also, I have never taken a four-hour ballet class, so I really can’t say for sure if it’s harder than NS, but I have seen the movie Black Swan and I can safely say that I don’t know anyone in NS who thinks he is turning into a big black bird.

She wrote: “I am overwhelmed yet heartened all at once at the immense support towards the SAF and national service.

“Regardless of how we each express our views, I believe the common goal that binds us is the obvious fact that we all care about our country and that we will stop at nothing to keep it safe - and that is something I choose to take away from these humbling exchanges.”

I want to talk about the movie World War Z, which I saw a few days ago.

Not sure whether it’s pronounced World War Zee (since it’s an American movie) or World War Zed (since we’re in Singapore).

I read somewhere that Z is the Roman numeral for 100,000, so the correct pronunciation should be World War One Hundred Thousand. Most people don’t know this because it’s not true.

Regardless of how you choose to pronounce the title, the Brad Pitt-produced zombie movie turned out to be one of the better summer flicks this year, surprisingly more engaging than Man Of Steel and Star Trek Into Darkness.

World War Z is about how governments fail to take a problem seriously despite early warning signs until the problem is literally on top of them.

Like I said, I’m not talking about the haze.

I just hope the PSI falls back to double digits on Wednesday night because McDonald’s is releasing the Singing Bones Hello Kitty on Thursday and I don’t have any N95 masks.

Monday, 17 June 2013

The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) hit 155 at 10pm, nearly 100 points higher than the PSI level of 56 at 7am today and well above the "unhealthy" threshold of 101 and above. This is the highest since 1997, when the index reached 226.

Since this morning, conditions have been visibly hazy and a strong burning smell has been detected across many parts of Singapore.

The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading as of 4pm today was in the range of 68 to 83, which is in the "moderate" range. The three-hour PSI reading soared to 117 at 7pm. It has since shot up to 140 at 8pm and 152 at 9pm.

Earlier, the National Environment Agency (NEA) had alerted the Indonesian Ministry of Environment on the haze situation in Singapore, urging Indonesia to look into urgent measures to mitigate the trans-boundary haze occurrence.

But the Indonesian forestry ministry said firefighters were already tackling the blazes and water-dropping aircraft would only be deployed if local governors made a request, which they had yet to do.

Ministry official Hadi Daryanto attempted to shift some of the blame onto Malaysia and Singapore, saying their palm oil companies that had invested in Indonesia were also responsible.

"We hope the governments of Malaysia and Singapore will tell their investors to adopt proper measures so we can solve this problem together," he said.

Having lived in the western part of Singapore for 30 years, I have long felt that the area has been underserved in terms of shopping centres.

Sure, we already have IMM, Jurong Point, JCube and West Mall, but you can never have enough places to watch post-converted 3-D Hollywood movies, buy crap you don’t need and eat lousy food court food.

Actually, IMM doesn’t have a cinema, Jurong Point has been extended twice since it opened in 1995, JCube is basically an ice-skating rink that happens to have some shops around it and West Mall appeals only to people in Bukit Batok.

Jem may be another generic shopping mall, but at least it’s a classy generic shopping mall with stores like H&M, Kinokuniya and Victoria’s Secret.

Even your name sounds classy. Jem is a homophone (not a gay telephone) for “gem”.

Unfortunately, Jem also sounds like “jam”, which better describes your situation last Tuesday when you couldn’t open the mall as scheduled because the fire permits weren’t ready.

I mean, Jem eventually opened, but The Frog Prince Hello Kitty is gone forever.

The spokesman for Select Group, which owns Hong Kong Sheng Kee Dessert, told The Straits Times: “Lend Lease (the company that developed Jem) wanted us to rush to open on the 11th, so we paid contractors more to work 24 hours. That was a big waste.”

Hong Kong Sheng Kee Dessert, which hired six people to work at the Jem outlet, had to throw food away. Nothing breaks my heart like throwing away food.

I couldn’t understand how anyone running a gargantuan 241-store mall could make a monumental mistake like this.

And then I read the media coverage of the “administrative issues” and it hit me – it was all just a sneaky publicity stunt!

So sneaky that your own tenants weren’t in on it.

Come on, do you really expect us to believe that you could be so incompetent as to not apply for the fire permits in time?

And that you were actually planning to open the mall on a Tuesday?

Who goes shopping on Tuesdays? There’s a reason Gelare offers a discount on its waffles only on Tuesdays.

When you finally opened yesterday – a Saturday, naturally – you got more hype than you would have if you had opened four days earlier as scheduled.

Now, thanks to the “administrative issues”, even people who don’t live in the western part of Singapore would be curious to visit the mall that couldn’t get its fire permits ready for its opening. Even the haze won’t deter the rubberneckers.

But you know what ultimately gave the game away?

When the delay of the opening was first reported, Jem’s development director Chris Brown was quoted as saying: “It’s been delayed to a date yet to be determined, due to an administrative regulatory issue.”

Friday, 14 June 2013

In just 10 days, we will be opening the doors to a whole lot of happy and memorable shopping experiences! Hands up if you are excited for this!

June 2

9 more days of waiting… and the fun begins!

June 3

We are sure most of you can't contain your excitement 'cause it's 8 days till we open!

June 4

7 days to happiness! Make sure you bring along your friends for your first visit to Jem!

June 5

Jem will be open in just 6 days! See you soon!

June 6

The wait is almost over! 5 days till Jem is open!

June 7

Come rain or shine, we'll make sure you have a great time! 4 days till we're open!!!

June 8

Happiness is just around the corner… see you in 3 days!

June 9

2 days to go! Now, get ready for Jem!

June 10

1 day till Jem's big day! Are you all getting giddy and excited?

June 11

Hello everyone, we are very sorry to announce that we will not be opening today.

We are doing everything we can to bring the Jem experience to you, as soon as possible. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and will update everyone on the opening date as soon as we can.

The Straits Times: Jem mall delays opening over 'admin issues'

The highly anticipated Jem mall in Jurong East did not open on Tuesday as planned, surprising some of its major tenants.

In a statement at press time late Monday night, Australian developer Lend Lease said it will be shifting the opening date back, citing "administrative issues".

Earlier, it had announced to much fanfare that the 241-store mall would open on Tuesday.

It even conducted a tour for the media, told tenants to prepare themselves and fixed an opening celebration ceremony on Thursday. Tenants including The Soup Spoon had even stationed staff at Jurong East MRT station nearby to give out fliers announcing their opening in Jem.

"We were anticipating having received all the necessary endorsements by the end of business today. However, that was not the case," said Jem's development director Chris Brown on Monday. "We have therefore taken the difficult decision of not opening the mall to the public tomorrow in order to adhere to regulatory requirements."

He added: "This is in the best interests of the public and the retailers... We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused and we will notify the public on the new opening date as soon as possible."

The Straits Times understands that the opening date will be moved back till beyond June 13.

When contacted Monday night, retailers like Swedish fashion brand H&M were taken by surprise.

Its marketing manager Lisa Chai was still preparing for the scheduled opening at its new three-storey outlet at Jem when The Straits Times contacted her at 10.40pm. "We are all geared up for the opening. I am very shocked," she said, adding that she will be calling Lend Lease immediately for answers.

Do-it-yourself store Home-Fix's managing director Low Cheong Kee said he was told to open on Thursday.

"As far as I know, we are still opening on that date," he said, adding that the mall's opening date has already been pushed back before."

"Another delay would be unfair. We rushed things to open on time and that pushed up our renovation costs."

Lend Lease won the site in a government public tender in June 2010, beating five other offers with its bid of $748.9 million. Last month, the media had reported that Jem would officially open to the public on May 29.

Its tenants include 59 brands new to the suburbs, including department store Robinsons and H&M. Lingerie brand Victoria's Secret, Books Kinokuniya and cosmetic chain Sephora will also open their first suburban stores at the six-storey mall in Jurong Gateway Road.

When it opens, Jem will be the third-largest suburban mall in Singapore, after Jurong Point and nex mall in Serangoon Central.

It expects to attract more than 50,000 shoppers a day.

Lend Lease was also the developer of Orchard's 313@Somerset and Parkway Parade.

Jem making 'good progress' in processing required fire permits

According to a media statement from the Jurong mall's Development Director, Mr Chris Brown, they are making "good progress" in processing the required fire permits from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) before they can open.

Said Mr Brown: "With the T.O.P. of the building’s retail component received on 31 May, the base building has received all necessary approvals.

"We are making good progress of processing the final permits required for the tenants to commence trading.

"Until these are in place, we continue to maintain the difficult position of not opening the mall to the public in order to adhere to regulatory requirements.

"We are focusing on getting Jem opened as soon as possible.

"We look forward to advising you on the new opening date as soon as we have the information. "

Jem announced on June 11 over its Facebook page that they would not be opening as scheduled. The post garnered over 100 comments, with many expressing their disappointment and frustration.

Jem added in another post on Tuesday that they were sorry for the delay and would give a token of appreciation to shoppers who made their way there between 10am to 11am.

June 13

Hello everyone, thank you all so much for your patience and support. We’re happy to share that Jem will be opening this Saturday, 15 June. See you then!

Jurong East's Jem mall will finally open tomorrow after a four-day delay, for which some tenants want compensation.

Jem's development director Chris Brown confirmed the 10am opening but said the matter was confidential when asked if compensation was on the cards.

The 241-store mall did not open as scheduled on Tuesday as not every unit had been issued the required fire permit. At least a Temporary Fire Permit is needed by both the mall itself and its individual units to begin operations.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force told The Straits Times all outstanding fire safety applications had been processed and approved by noon yesterday.

Applications were to have been submitted by the mall's architect. When contacted, SAA Architects declined comment.

Jem, located near Jurong East MRT station, was developed by Australian developer Lend Lease, which also developed Parkway Parade and 313@Somerset.

Tenants, who were given the new opening date yesterday, said they were told only on Monday night that the next day's opening was off.

Ms Chloe Sng, the senior marketing manager of Select Group, which is opening a restaurant, Hong Kong Sheng Kee Dessert, said: "Lend Lease wanted us to rush to open on the 11th, so we paid contractors more to work 24 hours. That was a big waste."

The restaurant chain, which hired six people to work at the basement-level outlet, had to throw food away.

"We had all the food on standby. Some items could be moved to other outlets, but many outlets didn't need more stock," she said.

"We hope the management will look into the issue and see how they can help us."

Other tenants had bins stuffed with decaying congratulatory wreaths and retail staff they had to pay who did not work.

Chief executive of electronics retail chain Epicentre, Mr Jimmy Fong, said manpower losses for the 12 employees hired for its two outlets at Jem came up to about $4,000.

"Rent was supposed to kick in on the 11th. We will be negotiating for no rental for the first four days," he said. "We also had additional staff hanging around doing nothing and being paid. We also want to negotiate for the loss of sales opportunity."

At least one other tenant, Dragon Brand Bird's Nest, will also be asking for compensation for manpower and rental costs.

Nearby residents had been looking forward to the opening of Jem, which boasts 59 tenants new to the suburbs, including fashion retailer H&M, lingerie brand Victoria's Secret and Books Kinokuniya. A 10-screen Cathay cinema complex, a water playground and a 70,000 sq ft FairPrice Xtra will open at a later date.

Lend Lease hopes to attract more than 50,000 shoppers a day from areas including Bukit Batok, Clementi and Upper Bukit Timah.

Ms Adele Teo, 38, an engineer from Bukit Batok, was at Jem on Tuesday, but was directed away by mall staff. "I will visit Jem some time next week," she said. "I am looking forward to shopping at H&M."